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Lynn woman dumps bunnies, faces charge

The Lowell Sun

Updated:
03/03/2016 06:37:04 AM EST

LOWELL -- A Lynn woman is facing an animal-cruelty charge after she was accused by Billerica police of abandoning 13 domestic rabbits -- 11 baby bunnies and two adult rabbits -- without food, water or shelter in a parking lot of a Billerica business and then going to work.

My Rathiphonh, 47, of 176 Chatham St., Lynn, appeared in Lowell District Court on Monday for a pretrial conference. She had been summonsed into court on Jan. 21 and released on personal recognizance after pleading not guilty at her arraignment to one count of animal cruelty in connection with the Nov. 2, 2015, incident.

As a condition of her release, Judge Thomas Brennan banned Rathiphonh from having any animals while her case is pending.

When reached for comment, Rathiphonh told a Sun reporter, in English, that she needed a Laotian interpreter to answer any questions, then she hung up.

Billerica police allege in court documents that when they responded to the parking lot of Atronix, at 780 Boston Road, they could see bunnies running through the bushes. A witness told police he saw a woman drive into the parking lot at 6:30 a.m. and drop off more than a dozen rabbits, then park her car and go to work.

When police looked in Rathiphonh's car, they saw several cages consistent with the transporting of rabbits. Officers began trying to capture the rabbits out of concern that they may be hit by cars coming into the parking lot and traffic along busy Boston Road.

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When police initially spoke to Rathiphonh, she allegedly told officers she planned on letting them run around for the day and then round them up at the end of the day to take them home. But when police questioned her about the number of rabbits she released, she admitted she was unsure of the exact number of rabbits.

Rathiphonh agreed to voluntarily surrender the rabbits to the police. She provided police with the cages from her car and offered to pay for food, medical and boarding of the rabbits if needed, according to court documents.

Police say Rathiphonh was charged with animal cruelty because they did not believe she intended to bring them home with her. Police contacted House Rabbit Network, a non-profit group that cares for abandoned rabbits, which agreed to accept the rabbits. A volunteer at the House Rabbit Network told police the babies appeared to be 6 weeks old and still surviving on their mother's milk. At that age, the bunnies would have difficulty surviving outside without proper shelter.

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